Alberta Maki

Friday

Alberta “Bert” (Nowak) Maki, 92, of Newton Street, died unexpectedly under the loving care of her family at Saint Vincent Hospital, Worcester on Tuesday, Jan. 24, after a brief illness.

She was born in her family home in West Boylston, one of eight children, on Sept. 29, 1919, the daughter of Polish immigrants, Albin Peter and Leokadia Annie (Golasiewska) Nowak. and lived in West Boylston all of her life.

Mrs. Maki graduated from Major Edward's High School and worked locally at Buck's Chair Company in Sterling, PermaGuide Company in Oakdale, Robert's Pharmacy in West Boylston, and as a secretary in the Service and Utilities Department at Norton Co. in Worcester until her retirement.

Early in her retirement, she volunteered several years at Holden District Hospital. She was a longtime “friend” of the Oakdale United Methodist Church in Oakdale, where she remained active in the Prayer Shawl Ministry and Missions Outreach knitting prayer shawls, chemo-caps and clothing for U.S. military troops overseas. In 1952, she and her husband, Leo, built a home with their own hands in the Oakdale section of West Boylston, where they lived until moving to their Newton Street home. She was a talented seamstress and enjoyed knitting, crocheting and sewing. She was also a skilled and creative artist known for her oil, acrylic, and watercolor paintings.

Her husband of 59 years, Leo Maki, died in 1997. She is survived by her two daughters, Judith B. Sandberg and Joanne K. Ciesluk and her husband, Anthony, all of Holden; two granddaughters, Diane K. Rowe and her husband, Bruce, of Cary, N.C., and Leslie E. Walton of Holden; and two great-granddaughters, Jennifer C. Rowe and Elizabeth B. Rowe, both of Cary, N.C. She is predeceased by three brothers and four sisters.

A memorial service honoring her life will be held at a date and time to be announced. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Oakdale United Methodist Church, Steeple Fund, 15 North Main St., West Boylston, MA 01583; or The Salvation Army, ARC, 72 Cambridge St., Worcester, MA 01603. Funeral arrangements are under the care of Miles Funeral Home, 1158 Main St., Holden.

To share a memory or offer a condolence, visit: www.milesfuneralhome.com.

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